Charities around Wokingham are set for a hefty pay day after thousands of people braved a wintry wind to enjoy the festivities at the Wokingham May Fayre on Monday.

Wokingham town centre was packed for the popular event, where visitors browsed a range of stalls and took in a host of entertainment on the main stage in Market Place.

Elms Field was transformed into a mini-funfair where hundreds of children and their parents enjoyed attractions including ferret racing, merry-go-rounds, a giant inflatable slide and even a climbing wall.

In town, stalls lined Denmark Street and Market Place, with some run by charities, jewellery for sale, Indian food from The Sultan Balti in Market Place and cocktails from The Redan pub in Peach Street.

Acts on the main stage included world yo-yo champion Arron Sparks, who wowed the crowds with his spectacular tricks, as well as Vanquish Dance Crew, circus tricks and PGs Stompers Jazz Band.

The May Fayre is a big day for local charities and volunteers were working hard throughout the event to raise much-needed funds.

The highlight of the day was the famous Wokingham balloon race.

On the stroke of 4pm, after a brief battle with the wind, local businessman John Nike sent hundreds of green and yellow balloons skyward.

The event organisers, Wokingham Lions Club, reckon members sold around 600 tickets for the event.

The balloons are now on their travels and the person whose balloon is returned from the furthest distance wins the prize of a 22 inch flat screen television.

The main charities selected by the Lions to receive a split of the proceeds are the Wokingham disabled children’s charity Building for the Future and the Windsor and Ascot wards at Wokingham Hospital in Barkham Road.

The group hopes it will top the £14,000 raised last year.

Vice-president Debbie Slay said: “It’s been a great day, it’s not been warm for a lot of it, but it’s not been wet like in previous years.

“We’ve had some great entertainment in town and on Elms Field and of course there is the balloon launch, which is always popular.

“We really hope we can beat the £14,000 we raised last year, that would be fantastic.”

Jane Holmes, of Building for the Future, which also had a stall which raised around £300, said: “It’s brilliant to be selected by the Lions, we are so grateful.

“We’ve also had a really great day on the stall.

“We’ve had so many people who have read about what we do in The Wokingham Times, it’s really great.”

Political hopefuls were also at the event, Independent candidates Mark Ashwell and Robin Smith were both on hand talking to people, and long-standing Conservative MP John Redwood was also there.

As well as showing off their cocktail-making skills, staff from The Redan were also carrying a petition against the proposed demolition of the pub in the regeneration of Wokingham town centre.

Barman Chris Hotson said: “We’ve got so much support today, thanks to everyone.

“I reckon we’ve got about 1,000 names today and loads of people have been coming in who we’ve never seen before, it’s great.”

For more photos of the Fayre see this week's Wokingham Times, out today.